brisket

[UpTop]

I'm picking up a brisket from the butcher on lunch break today to cook tomorrow. I've been reading various methods to cook brisket on the internet and noticed that one particular place says to rinse it (I'm assuming they mean under cold water) and my question is is this necessary with beef? I know to rinse poultry, but I didn't think beef needed to be rinsed. I have never rinsed a steak. My next question is does pork need to be rinsed before cooking? I can't recall ever rinsing a rack of ribs before smoking. I haven't gotten sick yet, but just want to be sure.

[redneck cooker]

I rinse all meat before rubbing and /or cooking:thumbs:

[Bull]

I rinse all meat before rubbing and /or cooking:thumbs:

Listenh he knows best:roflmaoha0: I always rinse as well.

[Woodman]

I remember discussing this with Gordo at Q-fest. My opinion is, you are cooking this to 200 degrees. This will kill off any surface bacteria. It is really a matter of personal preference. I do it if I am cooking at home, if I am cooking on the road, I can't , so I don't . Don't think it means squat either way!

[High Cotton Tom]

Listenh he knows best:roflmaoha0: I always rinse as well.

I rinse all meat before rubbing and /or cooking:thumbs:

Yeah, true Bull - and as we have all heard - redneck will show you his meat rubbing over and over and over again. Shoot, Redneck has closed threads because people like SLY would take his meat rubbing advice!!!

Man knows his meat - just ask him! Right Redneck?!? :roflmaoha0:

[Bull]

Yeah, true Bull - and as we have all heard - redneck will show you his meat rubbing over and over and over again. Shoot, Redneck has closed threads because people like SLY would take his meat rubbing advice!!!

Man knows his meat - just ask him! Right Redneck?!? :roflmaoha0:

:zip: Could take this to whole new levels but not going there :zip:

[redneck cooker]

Ok......Im just trying to give proper advice.:shock:just because you guys use your dirty little d:censored:beaters..:roflmaoha0:dont mean we all do!!!:frusty:

Woody, If you would come up to code on that catering rig you have and install the proper 3 bay sink then you could do it rite....remind me not to ever eat off your pit...cause Lord only knows where you hands have been...:shock::rolleyes:

[Texana]

I remember discussing this with Gordo at Q-fest. My opinion is, you are cooking this to 200 degrees. This will kill off any surface bacteria. It is really a matter of personal preference. I do it if I am cooking at home, if I am cooking on the road, I can't , so I don't . Don't think it means squat either way!

I agree with Woodrow on this one ....

[UpTop]

You rinse your steaks? I just brush em' with a little olive oil, salt/pepper em' and toss em' on the grill.

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets/Does_Washing_Food_Promote_Food_Safety/index.asp

[UpTop]

I know people who eat raw ground beef. Disgusting, huh?

[Bull]

You rinse your steaks? I just brush em' with a little olive oil, salt/pepper em' and toss em' on the grill.

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets/Does_Washing_Food_Promote_Food_Safety/index.asp


Nope just cut the horns, wipe it's A:censored: and throw it on the pit.

[Bull]

I know people who eat raw ground beef. Disgusting, huh?


Akshewly that would be called steak Tar Tar invented by good ole' JAck Nicholas. They have this at a resturant in Cali somewhere.

[UpTop]

I do eat my steaks and especially filet mignon rare, but ground beef?

[Buckeye]

I alwaze wash my meat. :woohoo::monkey:

[Texana]

Akshewly that would be called steak Tar Tar invented by good ole' JAck Nicholas. They have this at a resturant in Cali somewhere.

I hate take an invention away from ole' Jack, but he was born way to late to get credit for Steak Tartare.

Read on .....

Steak tartare is a meat dish made from finely chopped or ground raw beef or horse meat. Tartare can also be made by thinly slicing a high grade of meat such as strip steak, marinating it in wine or other spirits and spicing it to taste, and then chilling it. It is often served with onions, capers and seasonings (the latter typically incorporating fresh ground pepper and Worcestershire sauce), and sometimes with a raw egg, and usually served on rye bread. The word is derived from the name Tartars or Tatars, an ethnic people from Eastern Europe and part of Asia.



History

The basis of the name is the legend that nomadic Tatar people of the Central Asian steppes did not have time to cook and thus placed meat underneath their horses' saddles. The meat would be tenderised by the end of the journey.

Perhaps the earliest American restaurant version of steak tartare is found at Luchow's, the famous German restaurant in Manhattan near Broadway at 110 East 14th Street. Founded by Guido August Lüchow in 1882, the cited recipe is in the Lüchow’s cookbook (1952 edition). The Lüchow’s recipe (for four portions) was comparatively simple: 2lbs fillet of beef, 4 slices freshly buttered toast, 4 fresh raw eggs, 8 sardellen (anchovy fillets), and 2 tablespoons pickled capers. They would remove the fat from beef and grind the lean fine, arrange on toast, serve a raw egg yolk on top of each slice and garnish with anchovies and capers. The dish was purportedly put on the menu originally to help a well known patron lose weight.

Health concerns

Health concerns have reduced the popularity of this meat dish because of the danger of contamination by bacteria and parasites. The Mexican version of steak tartare typically marinates the meat in lime juice, in the manner of ceviche, which has the effect of disinfecting the meat to a certain extent. The standard version, which marinates the raw beef in wine or some other form of alcohol will have a similar effect, especially if the liquid used is distilled.

[txsmkmstr]

I also rinse off meat before cooking... more so to get any bits left over from the saw (ribs especially) or poor butchering. Pat dry and go from there.

[Woodman]

Ok......Im just trying to give proper advice.:shock:just because you guys use your dirty little d:censored:beaters..:roflmaoha0:dont mean we all do!!!:frusty:

Woody, If you would come up to code on that catering rig you have and install the proper 3 bay sink then you could do it rite....remind me not to ever eat off your pit...cause Lord only knows where you hands have been...:shock::rolleyes:

Don't go there with me now! Remember, I cooked with you two weeks ago................

[redneck cooker]

:frusty:Sorry...How could I forget!!:roflmaoha0::roflmaoha0::roflmaoha0:

[Buckeye]

Don't go there with me now! Remember, I cooked with you two weeks ago................


:shock:Oh!....you saw that too? :roflmaoha0::roflmaoha0:

[Woodman]

We need one of those "puking" emoticons.......

[UpTop]

So I picked up the brisket on my lunch break, brought it home and threw it in the fridge. This thing weighed almost 14lbs.! I read somewhere that ideally you'd like them to weigh between 8-10lbs. and that tells you that it came from a younger cow and should be more tender. Is there anything I can do to make sure this thing comes out tender and not dried out? Maybe add some beef stock and wrap with foil 3/4 of the way through?

[Woodman]

So I picked up the brisket on my lunch break, brought it home and threw it in the fridge. This thing weighed almost 14lbs.! I read somewhere that ideally you'd like them to weigh between 8-10lbs. and that tells you that it came from a younger cow and should be more tender. Is there anything I can do to make sure this thing comes out tender and not dried out? Maybe add some beef stock and wrap with foil 3/4 of the way through?


foil at internal temp of 160 ,add some coke , beef stock, or Dr Pepper to the foil. Call Bill. Ask him how to seal up the edges of the foil all pretty and prissy like so it don't leak........

[UpTop]

I also read somewhere that briskets are easy to over smoke and turn bitter. They said if using wood chunks to pre burn them down to coal before shoveling into the cooker. Any truth to this or should I just start with two fist sized chunks and not add any more?

[Will32Rod]

I always start with a chimney of charcoal or lump and 2 or 3 chunks of oak or hickory for brisket, in my offset. Comes up to temp in about 15 min.

[Woodman]

Up, any meat that spends 10 hours plus in a cooker can be oversmoked, but I would not worry. I argue this point on the WSM forum alot too. I cook briskets in the WSM with 5-10 chunks of wood for a 10-12 hour smoke and have never "oversmoked" one yet. In fact, I have never tasted "oversmoked" meat. If it is bitter, it is "improperly" smoked, not "oversmoked" . Most of us on this site, cook with 100% wood. That is the equivalent of 300-400 WSM sized chunks per cook. The whole "oversmoked" thing comes from :

a) Folks who have a delicate taste and just don't like smoke flavor.

b) Novices who think the cooker has to be billowing smoke the whole time, and they wet the wood by soaking it before putting in on to "smolder".

c) People using green, wet, or rotted wood.

You will reduce your chances of offending anyone with too much smoke flavor if you foil your meat at 160 degrees to finish. WM

[Buckeye]

I also read somewhere that briskets are easy to over smoke and turn bitter. They said if using wood chunks to pre burn them down to coal before shoveling into the cooker. Any truth to this or should I just start with two fist sized chunks and not add any more?

Never had a problem with oversmoked brisket. For tha most part I do pre-burn my logs.....but have been known ta chunk a few in there w/o preburnin'. I leeve tha fb door open for a few minutes ta let most of tha "dirty" smoke (yellowish brown) out tha door...then close tha door an continyoo.

Thing with chunks....is if you do burn 'em down ta coals, there ain't much left ta do much with. I've used chunks a few times on my ex-Chargriller in conjuckshun with Kingsford, but it wuz for tha smoke, not az a heet source. Are you wunt'n ta burn down ta coals ta use az yer heet source or jus ta git tha nastys off? Personalee, I don't think chunks harbor enuff nastys for one or two chunks ta make yer food bitter....so I'd jus thro 'em in there w/o pre-burnin'. Jus my 3 yen werth.:D

[gordo]

Main reason I rinse them off is....

sometimes the juices in the cryovac package give off a real funky smell when you first open the them....:o

just checking to make sure the meat hasn't
gone bad...and see if it passes the smell test after its washed off..:rolleyes:

[UpTop]

Kingsford is NOT allowed in my cooker EVER AGAIN!!! A few weeks ago when I didn't have any RO and didn't feel like going to the store I went over to my dads house which is only a few blocks away and helped myself to some Kingsford he had. I will never do it again! Whatever that smell/taste is that comes from Kingsford is not good in my opinion. I have used too much mesquite in the past and did not care for the flavor. Some people say they wouldn't recommend cooking over unlit charcoal EVER. Now I use the minion method as it is the only way for me to achieve long burn times in my WSM and some of the charcoal is unlit. I haven't noticed any off flavors from this, but maybe some people have more sensitive taste buds or whatever.

[UpTop]

I normally use a base of unlit RO briqs mostly in the middle of the charcoal ring and then lump around the edges and dump a chimney of lit briqs on top of the unlit ones for my heat source. The chunks are just for smoke. I've got pretty much every type of wood chunk suitable for smoking on hand. I think I'll try a mix of either oak and pecan or oak and mesquite for this first brisket.

[nodnal]

Can it get too much smoke if its fat side up or fat side down:idea::roflmaoha0:

[redneck cooker]

The fat side up/down debate has went on for years..it is totally up to the cook....I cook fat side down, and the reson is if your fire gets away form you the layer of fat will protect the meat somewhat...Try it both ways and which ever works stick with it...

[UpTop]

What's this fat side up or down stuff yer tellin' me. Just yesterday you said STAMP side down. Make up yer mind. There will be no straddlin' the fence on this issue....

[redneck cooker]

the stamp on meat is usually put on the fatty side...but referring to a brisket we have the fat side which is usually on the bottom of the package, and the lean side which is on the top of the package...correct?...then when you cook it put the fat side down on the grate...:thumbs:

[UpTop]

I appreciate all your input and advice. I'm gaining a little confidence and think that not only will my very first brisket be edible, but will be pretty damn good too maybe even better than the BBQ'd brisket sammich I had at Famous Dave's.

[cappy]

Up, any meat that spends 10 hours plus in a cooker can be oversmoked, but I would not worry. I argue this point on the WSM forum alot too. I cook briskets in the WSM with 5-10 chunks of wood for a 10-12 hour smoke and have never "oversmoked" one yet. In fact, I have never tasted "oversmoked" meat. If it is bitter, it is "improperly" smoked, not "oversmoked" . Most of us on this site, cook with 100% wood. That is the equivalent of 300-400 WSM sized chunks per cook. The whole "oversmoked" thing comes from :

a) Folks who have a delicate taste and just don't like smoke flavor.

b) Novices who think the cooker has to be billowing smoke the whole time, and they wet the wood by soaking it before putting in on to "smolder".

c) People using green, wet, or rotted wood.

You will reduce your chances of offending anyone with too much smoke flavor if you foil your meat at 160 degrees to finish. WM

+1

I smoke multiple turkeys with mesquite every year, and I do it at about 275 degrees for 7-8 hours before they're all done, and have never had someone say they were too smoky.

[sly2kusa]

Main reason I rinse them off is....

sometimes the juices in the cryovac package give off a real funky smell when you first open the them....:o

just checking to make sure the meat hasn't
gone bad...and see if it passes the smell test after its washed off..:rolleyes:

It's funny you mention this, because the Beef Ribs I did today had this very odor about them, until they washed off.

Ack - smelled like dead cow s:censored:t!